Puerto Rico Isla Spaces

    Taíno Indians culture

Taíno Indians, a subgroup of the

Arawakan Indians

(a group of American Indians in

northeastern South America),

inhabited the Greater Antilles

(comprising Cuba, Jamaica,

Hispaniola

[Haiti and the Dominican Republic],

and Puerto Rico)

in the Caribbean Sea at the time when

Christopher Columbus'

arrived to the New World.

The Taíno culture impressed both

the Spanish

(who observed it) and modern

sociologists.

The Arawakan achievements included

construction of

ceremonial ball parks whose

boundaries were marked

by upright stone dolmens, development

 of a universal

language, and creation of a complicated

religious cosmology.

There was a hierarchy of deities who inhabited

the sky; Yocahu

was the supreme Creator. Another god, Jurakán,

 was perpetually

angry and ruled the power of the hurricane.

Other mythological

figures were the gods Zemi and Maboya.

The zemis, a god of

both sexes, were represented by icons in

the form of human

and animal figures, and collars made of

wood, stone, bones,

and human remains. Taíno Indians believed that

 being in the good

graces of their zemis protected them from disease,

 hurricanes, or

disaster in war. They therefore served cassava

(manioc) bread as

well as beverages and tobacco to their zemis as

propitiatory offerings.

Maboyas, on the other hand, was a nocturnal deity

who destroyed the

crops and was feared by all the natives, to the

extent that elaborate

sacrifices were offered to placate him.

Myths and traditions were perpetuated through

 ceremonial dances

(areytos), drumbeats, oral traditions, and a

 ceremonial ball game

played between opposing teams

(of 10 to 30 players per team)

with a rubber ball; winning this game was

 thought to bring a good

harvest and strong, healthy children.

The Taíno Indians lived in theocratic

 kingdoms and had a

hierarchically arranged chiefs or caciques.

 The Taínos were

divided in three social classes: the naborias

 (work class), the

nitaínos or sub-chiefs and noblemen which

 includes the bohiques

or priests and medicine men and the caciques or chiefs,

each village

or yucayeque had one.

At the time Juan Ponce de León took possession

 

 of the Island, there

were about twenty villages or yucayeques,

Cacique Agüeybana, was

chief of the Taínos. He lived at Guánica, the

largest Indian village in

the island, on the Guayanilla River. The

rank of each cacique

apparently was established along democratic lines;

his importance

in the tribe being determined by the size of his clan,

rather than its

war-making strength. There was no aristocracy

of lineage, nor

were their titles other than those given to

 individuals to distinguish

their services to the clan.

Their complexion were bronze-colored,

average stature

, dark, flowing, coarse hair, and large

and slightly oblique

dark eyes. Men generally went naked or

wore a breech cloth,

called nagua, single women walked around

naked and married

women an apron to over their genitals, made

of cotton or palm

fibers. The length of which was a sign of rank.

 Both sexes painted

themselves on special occasions; they wore

earrings, nose rings,

and necklaces, which were sometimes made of

gold. Taíno crafts

were few; some pottery and baskets were

made, and stone, marble

and wood were worked skillfully.

Skilled at agriculture and hunting, then Taínos

were also good sailors

, fishermen, canoe makers, and navigators.

Their main crops were

cassava, garlic, potatoes, yautías,

mamey, guava, and anón. They

had no calendar or writing system, and could

count only up to twenty,

using their hands and feet. Their personal

possessions consisted of

wooden stools with four legs and carved backs,

hammocks made of

cotton cloth or string for sleeping, clay and

wooden bowls for mixing

and serving food, calabashes or gourds for

drinking water and bailing

out boats, and their most prized possessions,

large dugout canoes, for

transportation, fishing, and water sports.

Caciques lived in rectangular huts, called

caneyes, located in the center

of the village facing the batey. The naborias lived

 in round huts, called

bohios. The construction of both types of building

was the same: wooden

frames, topped by straw, with earthen floor,

 and scant interior

furnishing. But the buildings were strong

enough to resist hurricanes.

Its believed that Taíno settlements ranged from

single families to groups

of 3,000 people.

About 100 years before the Spanish invasion,

 the Taínos were

challenged by an invading South American

tribe - the Caribs

. Fierce, warlike, sadistic, and adept at using

 poison-tipped arrows, the raided Taíno

settlements for slaves (especially females)

and bodies for the completion

of their rites of cannibalism. Some ethnologists

argue that the

preeminence of the Taínos, shaken by the attacks

 of the Caribs,

was already jeopardized by the time

of the Spanish occupation. In fact, it was Caribs

 who fought the most

effectively against the Europeans, their

 behavior probably led the

Europeans to unfairly attribute warlike

tendencies to all of the island's

tribes. A dynamic tension between the

Taínos and the Caribs certainly

existed when the Christopher Columbus

landed on Puerto Rico.

When the Spanish settlers first came in 1508

, since there is no reliable

documentation, anthropologists estimate their

numbers to have been

between 20,000 and 50,000, but maltreatment,

disease, flight, and

unsuccessful rebellion had diminished their

number to 4,000 by 1515;

in 1544 a bishop counted only 60, but these

 too were soon lost.

At their arrival the Spaniards expected the

 Taíno Indians to

acknowledge the sovereignty of the king of

Spain by payment

of gold tribute, to work and supply provisions

 of food and to

observe Christian ways. The Taínos rebelled

 most notably in

1511, when several caciques (Indian leaders)

 conspired to oust

the Spaniards. They were joined in this uprising by

their traditional

enemies, the Caribs. Their weapons, however, were

no match against

Spanish horses and firearms and the revolt was soon

 ended brutally

by the Spanish forces of Governor Juan

Ponce de León.

In order to understand Puerto Rico's prehistoric

 era, it is important

to know that the Taínos, far more than the Caribs,

 contributed greatly

to the everyday life and language that evolved

during the Spanish

occupation. Taíno place names are still

used for such towns as

Utuado, Mayagüez, Caguas, and Humacao,

 among others.

Many Taíno implements and techniques were

copied directly by

the Europeans, including the bohío (straw hut)

 and the hamaca

(hammock), the musical instrument known

 as the maracas, and the

method of making cassava bread. Many Taino

words persist in the

Puerto Rican vocabulary of today. Names of plants,

trees and fruits

includes: maní, leren, ají, yuca, mamey, pajuil,

 pitajaya, cupey,

tabonuco and ceiba. Names of fish, animals and birds

 includes: mucaro,

guaraguao, iguana, cobo, carey, jicotea, guabina,

manati, baroque

and juey. As well as other objects and instruments:

güiro, bohío,

batey, caney, hamaca, nasa, petate, coy, barbacoa

, batea, cabuya,

casabe and canoa. Other words were passed not

only into Spanish,

but also into English, such as huracan (hurricane)

 and hamaca

(hammock). Also, many Taíno superstitions and

legends were

adopted and adapted by the Spanish and still influence

 the Puerto Rican

imagination.

Glosary

a

Arawak
The Arawak are a group of linguistically related

 but culturally diverse

 Indian peoples who inhabit the tropical forests of

South America,

especially north of the Amazon River, extending from

 the Andean

foothills to the Antilles. The Antillean Arawak or

 Taino were

agriculturists who lived in villages and practiced

cultivation of

cassava and corn. The people were arranged in

 social ranks

and gave great deference to theocratic chiefs.

Religious belief

centered on a hierarchy of nature spirits and

ancestors,

paralleling somewhat the hierarchies of chiefs.

b
batey
A flat court used by the indigenous Amerinidias for

 sports and

ceremonies. Surrounded by carved stones, they are

 believed to

date from the 9th century but may be even older.

 Surrounded by

carved stones, they are believed to date

 from the

9th century but may be even older.

c

cardinal
A high ecclesiastical official in the Roman

Catholic Church,

 ranking just below the Pope.

Carib
American Indian people who inhabited the

 Lesser Antilles and

 parts of the neighboring South American

coast at the time of the

Spanish conquest. Their name was given to

the Caribbean Sea,

and its Arawakan equivalent is the origin of the

 English word cannibal.

 Carib groups of the South American mainland

 lived in the Guianas,

 and south to the Amazon River. Some were

warriors and they lived

in small autonomous settlements, growing

 cassava and other crops

 and hunting with blow-gun or bow and arrow.

Caribbean Sea
is a sub-oceanic basin approximately 1,063,000

square miles

 (2,754,000 square kilometers) in extent,

lying between

9' to 22' N and 89' to 60'W. The Caribbean

Sea is divided

 into five submarine basins that are roughly

elliptical in

shape and separated from one another by

submerged ridges

 and rises. These are the Yucatan, Cayman,

Colombian,

Venezuelan, and Grenade basins.

 Subsurface water enters

 the Caribbean Sea across two sills.

 These sills are

 located below the Anegada Passage,

 which runs between

the Virgin Islands and the Lesser Antilles,

 and the Windward

Passage, which runs between Cuba and

 Hispaniola. The sill

depth of the Anegada Passage is between

6,400 and 7,700 feet

(1,950 and 2,350 m); the sill depth of the

Windward Passage

 is from 5,250 to 5,350 feet (1,600 to 1,630m).

Casals, Pablo (1876--1973)
Born in Spain. Casals was a Spanish cellist,

conductor,

composer, and admired public figure.

He received his

 first music lessons from his father and

 studied violin

before turning to the cello at the age of

 12. By age

21 he had made important modifications

 in the technique

of the cello and was hailed as a master.

He toured widely

in Europe and the Americas, adding greatly

 to the popularity

of the cello as a solo instrument. Casals

 also created two

continuing international music festivals--

the Pablo Casals

Festival in Prades, France, and the Festival

 Casals de

Puerto Rico, which began in 1950 and in

1957, respectively.

Columbus, Christopher (Italian

Cristoforo Colombo,

 Spanish Cristóbal Colón) (1451--1506)
Italian-Spanish navigator, who sailed west

 across the

Atlantic Ocean in search of a route to Asia

but landed

 on islands in the Caribbean Sea. Columbus

 was born in

 Genoa, Italy, in 1451. In the mid-1470s

he made his firs

t trading voyage in the Aegean Sea.

 Believing that the

 earth was smaller than was previously

 thought and

that it was composed mostly of land,

Columbus eventually

decided that Asia could be reached quickly

 by sailing west

. His request to the king of Portugal to finance

 his expedition

was rejected, and Columbus moved to Spain,

 where his

 plans won the support of several influential

 people. In April

1492 King Ferdinand V and Queen

Isabella I agreed to

 sponsor the expedition. Columbus's

 expedition consisted

of the Santa María, under his personal

command, and the

 Pinta and the Niña, two smaller ships.

 The fleet sailed from

Palos de la Frontera, Spain, on August 3,

 1492. On his first

voyage he landed on Guanahani, an island

 in the Bahamas,

 Cuba and Hispañola. On his second

voyage he landed

on Dominica, Maria Galante; Guadaloupe;

Montserrat;

St, Kitts & Nevis; St. Eustatius; U.S.

 Virgin Islands &

Puerto Rico; Hispaniola; Cuba; Jamaica:

 Cuba; Jamaica;

 Hispaniola. On his third voyage he

 landed on Trinidad;

sighted South America; Gulf of Paria;

and Hispaniola. On

this fourth voyage he landed on Martinique;

Santo Domingo;

 Jamaica; Cuba; Honduras; Nicaragua;

Costa Rica;

 Panama; Cuba; Santo Domingo.

Columbus Day
holiday (traditionally October 12)

commemorating Christopher

 Columbus's discovery of America. Since

 1971 it has been

celebrated in most of the U.S. and Puerto Rico

on the Monday

nearest to October 12. Among Puerto Ricans

 this holiday

 is also known as "Dia de la Raza".

colonialism
a political-economic phenomenon beginning

about the year

1500 whereby various European nations

discovered, conquered,

 settled, and exploited large areas of the world.

commonwealth
a politic body founded on law for the

common wealth or good.

The term was often used by 17th-century writers.

conga
drum made of a hollow tree trunk with

an animal skin

 stretched across one end.

Cordillera Central
limestone mountain range that forms the interior

of the island. The

Cordillera Central occupies the west-central

part of the island,

extending about 50 miles (80 km) from San Germán

to Manatí.

In the Cordillera, 11 miles (18 km) north of Ponce,

 is the island's

 highest peak, Cerro de Punta 4,390 feet

 (1,338 m). Winding

 roads run through lush mountain ranges

with forest reserves

and spectacular waterfalls. The journey

through this picturesque

 region could last two to three days and takes

you through areas

such as the Carite Forest Reserve, the home of over

50 different species of bird.

cuatro
derived from the Spanish guitar, it has 5 double strings.

d

e
ecology
a branch of science concerned with the

 interrelationship of

organism and their environments.

f
FALN
abbreviation of Fuerzas Armadas de

 Liberación Nacional

("Armed Forces of National Liberation),

militant nationalist

 organization formed about 1974 to

agitate for Puerto Rican

 independence from the United States.

 The name of FALN

 first surfaced on October 26, 1974,

when five big bombs

exploded in Manhattan--in the

 Wall street area, in

Rockefeller Center, and on Park

Avenue--causing

considerable property damage

 but no injuries.

Fiestas Patronales
festivities held in each town's plaza to honor

 the areas patron

 saint. These fiestas usually last for ten

days and include

religious processions, games, food and

 dance. For further

 details, please take a look at the Calendar

of Fiestas Patronales.

g
Greater Antilles
the four largest islands of the

 Antilles -- Cuba,

Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Good Friday and Easter Sunday
a religious holidays marked by much

activity on the

predominantly Catholic island. Colorful religious

 processions

 and ceremonies take place in every town.

guagua
local transportation, usually a small bus

(14 cap.).

guiro
hollowed gourd with ridges cut into the sid and

 played with a

 wire fork adds a unique percussion

sound

to many popular music genres.

h
Hydrography
of or relating to the characteristic features

(as flow or depth) of bodies of water.

Hurricane
severe atmospheric disturbance in the tropical

 oceans between

latitudes of approximately 5 and 30 in both

hemispheres. These

 storms are characterized by very low atmospheric

 pressures in the

calm, clear center of a circular structure of rain,

 cloud, and very high

winds. In the western Atlantic and the

Caribbean they are

 called hurricanes; in the western Pacific, typhoons;

and in western Australia, willy-willies.

i

j

k

l
Las Casas, Bartolome de (1474--1566)
Known as the Apostle of the Indies,

Bartolome de Las

Casas, was one of the first Spanish

 missionaries

in Latin America.

His Historia de las Indias (History of the Indies)

 is a major

source for the early period of colonization.

 Las Casas first went

 to Hispaniola in 1502, and about 1512 he

 became a priest

, probably the first to be ordained in the

 New World.

 (He later joined the Dominican order.)

 In 1514, Las

 Casas began a lifelong effort to improve

conditions for the harshly treated Indians.

m
McKinley, William (1843--1901)
25th president of the United States

(1897-1901); a staunch

Republican he came to be identified with the

 global imperialism

associated with U.S. territorial acquisitions

 following the

Spanish-American War (1898). Though

 McKinley had not

entered the war for territorial aggrandizement,

he was now

faced with the disposition of the former

Spanish territories.

 He declared that Puerto Rico, the Philippines,

and other

 strategically located islands must not be

 allowed

 to fall into unfriendly hands and must

therefore be made

 U.S. dependencies. Despite opposition to

this "imperialism"

 from certain Republicans, McKinley

stood fast in his

 decision throughout the peace negotiations.

Miles, Nelson (1839--1925)
Soldier; born in Westminster, Mass.

 A clerk in a

crockery store when the Civil War broke

out, he obtained

a commission in the 22nd Massachusetts

 and fought in nearly

 every major engagement of the Army

 of the Potomac,

ending the war as a brigadier general

(and with the

Congressional Medal of Honor).

 He became commander-in-chief

of the army in 1895, and after directing the

 training of troops

 for the Spanish-American War, he led the

 U.S. forces that

occupied Puerto Rico in 1898. He

 was promoted to lieutenant

 general in 1901. He retired from the

 army in 1903.

His books include Personal Recollections

and Observations

 (1896) and Serving the Republic (1911).

Milwaukee Depth
deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, lying at

a depth of 27,493

feet (8,380 m) about 100 miles (160 km)

northwest of the island

of Puerto Rico. It lies within a submarine

depression called the

Puerto Rico Trench, located at the southern

edge of the North

American Basin, between the Puerto Rico

 Ridge (north) and the

 North Antillean Arc (south); it is about

 7,000 feet (2,100 m)

deeper than the adjoining basin floors.

The Milwaukee Depth is

named after the first ship that

sounded it. Its bottom is

covered with mud, sand, rock, and shells.

Mona Passage
a strait between Dominican Republic

 (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico,

 about 80 miles (130 km) wide and

1,500 feet (460 meters) deep

. It is named after Mona Island. The

 passage is one of the main

 shipping routes to the Panama Canal.

Mesones Gastronómicos
This official tourism company restaurant

program

 includes more

 than 50 selected restaurants across the island.

 To be included

, a restaurant must offer the best local

specialties, unique to their

particular area, at reasonable prices and

served with Puerto Rican hospitality.

n

o

p
Panoramic Route
a scenic road over 120 miles.

 It passes through the

 Cordillera Central,

 with large areas of forest and offers

stunning vistas along the way.

 The route, which is really a loose

network of some 40 different

roads, twists and turns along the

central spine of Puerto Rico, its

connects Yabucoa in the southeast

 with Mayaguez on the

West coast. The roads are

 narrow and sometimes

sings are difficult to see.

Ponce de León, Juan
(1460--1521), Spanish explorer,

who founded

 the oldest settlement

 in Puerto Rico and discovered the

 present-day state of Florida.

 Born in Tierra de Campos Palencia,

 Ponce de León conquered

 the island of Boriquen (Puerto Rico)

in 1508 and served as its

 governor (1509-12). In 1512, he

obtained permission from

 the Spanish king to find, conquer,

 and colonize a legendary

 island called Bimini. He landed

 on what he believed to be

 Bimini in April 1513 and named

the region Florida. After

 rounding Key West and sailing

 up the west coast, he

 returned to Puerto Rico. In 1513

 he discovered Florida,

 and in 1521 Ponce de León set

out to colonize Florida.

With two vessels, 200 men, 50 horses

 and other domestic

animals, and farm implements, he sailed

 for Florida. He landed

 on the West coast, where his party was

 attacked by Native

Americans. Severely wounded by

 an arrow, Ponce de

León withdrew to Cuba, where he soon died.

Puerto Rico Trench
elongate depression in the floor of the

Atlantic Ocean to

the north of Puerto Rico and the

 Leeward Islands of the

 West Indies. It runs roughly east-west

and then southwest

 and, like most deep-sea trenches, lies

 along the convex

side of an island arc system. The

 bottom of the trench,

 averaging approximately 25,800 feet

 (7,860 meters)

below sea level, is a narrow, flat plain,

 the result of the

 deposition of sediments. It is bounded

by steep walls

broken into a series of small steps

 that are indicative of

splintering action along major fault lines.

 The trench does

 not appear to have been formed

by faulting of the earth's

 crust. It is thought that compressional

forces acting on the

rock beneath the trench are sufficient

 to hold it in its sharp

 V configuration. In its Milwaukee

 Depth, about 100 miles

(160 km) northwest of Puerto Rico,

 the trench is about

 28,374 feet (8,648 meters) below sea level, the

deepest sounding yet found in the Atlantic.

Paradores
Paradores are accommodations outside

 of metropolitan

San Juan designed to let the traveler

enjoy an ambiance

 enhanced by the rich Puerto Rican

 culture. Paradores

 range from centuries-old haciendas to

small properties in

local fishing villages. The designation is

 awarded by the

Tourist Board and reviewed annually.

Only properties

meeting the exacting standards are allowed to

 use this designation

q

r
Río Piedras
suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with which it was

 merged in 1951. It is an industrial and

agricultural

 trading center. The Univ. of Puerto Rico

Medical Sciences campus is there at San Juan.

Richter scale
widely used quantitative measure

of the magnitude

 of an earthquake, introduced in 1935

 by the seismologists

 Beno Gutenberg and Charles Francis Richter.

Richter
Magnitudes  Earthquake
Effects 
Less than 3.5  Generally not felt, but recorded. 
3.5-5.4  Often felt, but rarely causes damage. 
Under 6.0  At most slight damage to

well-designed

 buildings. Can cause major

 damage to poorly

 constructed buildings

 over small regions. 
6.1-6.9  Can be destructive in

areas up to about

100 kilometers across where

 people live. 
7.0-7.9  Major earthquake.

 Can cause

serious damage over larger areas. 
8 or greater  Great earthquake.

 Can cause serious

 damage in areas several hundred

 kilometers across. 

Biggest Earthquakes Recorded on

 the Richter Scale 
May, 22 1960  Chile  9.5 
March 28, 1964  Prince William

Sound, Alaska  9.2 
March 9, 1957  Andreanof Islands,

 Aleutian Islands  9.1 
November 4, 1952  Kamchatka

, Russia  9.0 
December 26, 2004  Indian Ocean  9.0 
January 31, 1906  Ecuador  8.8 
February 4, 1965  Rat Islands,

Aleutian Islands  8.7 
March 28, 2005  Northern

Sumatra, Indonesia  8.7 
August 15, 1950  Assam, India-Tibet  8.6 
February 2, 1938  Banda Sea, Indonesia  8.5 
February 3, 1923  Kamchatka, Russia  8.5 
October 13, 1963  Kuril Islands  8.5 

 

Ruta Panoramica
see Panoramic Route

s
Santeria
an African religion that was brought to

Puerto Rico by

 slaves. It remains present to this day

. Slaves were not

 allowed to practice their religions,

so they changed

 Santería to be similar to Catholicism.

 Catholic

 saints were given matching gods in

Santería.

Section 936
Established in 1976, Section 936

provided U.S.

firms operating in Puerto Rico with

 tax-free income

. Section 936 succeeded previous

 tax breaks for U.S.

 firms in Puerto Rico dating back

to 1921. Section

 936 helped to stimulate industrialization

and

infrastructure development on the island.
On August 20, 1996 the U.S. Congress

repealed

Section 936 of the U.S. Internal

Revenue Code,

with a clause that retains its benefit

 for ten years of

existing corporations. Section 30A

was created to

 substitute Section 936. It essentially

retains

 the wage credit component of Section 936.

t
Three Kings Day
a traditional gift-giving holiday

on the island

(celebrated each year on January 6),

commemorates

the day that the three Wise Men (Balthasar,

Melchoir and Gaspar)

 brought gifts to the Christ child. On the

evening of January 5,

boys and girls place clumps of hay or

grass and a bowl of

water for the Kings' camels in boxes

 under their beds.

 Custom has it that the grateful

Three Kings leave presents

at children bedsides to thank them

for their gifts of food

 and water. In La Fortaleza, Old San

Juan, the governor

 honors the tradition by handing out

gifts to island children.

tsunami
also called seismic sea wave, or tidal

wave, catastrophic

 ocean wave, usually caused by a

submarine earthquake

 occurring less than 50 km (30 miles)

beneath the

seafloor, with a magnitude greater than 6.5

on the Richter scale.

u

v

w
World Heritage site
any of various areas or objects inscribed

on the United

Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) World Heritage List.

The sites are designated as having

 "outstanding universal value" under the

Convention Concerning the

 Protection of the World Cultural

 and Natural Heritage

 (adopted by UNESCO in 1972).

There are three types of sites:

cultural, natural, and mixed

Christopher Columbus was born in

1451 Calvi (Corsica), northwest

of the island, 200km from Ajaccio.

 

 He was the oldest of five children.

 As a child, he helped his father as a

weaver. He always liked the sea.

Genoa was an important seaport.

 There is no doubt that as a child he

caught rides on ships. He had little

 schooling but was a genius with the

 sea. His plan was not to prove that

the world was flat, but it was to find

 a shortcut to the Spice Islands. He

 wanted to establish a city there for

 trade, seaports, and much more.

When he grew into a man he was

 interested in sailing to Asia by

 going west. First he went to the king

of Italy and presented his idea before him.

 Italy wasn't looking for a way to Asia, they

 were still recieving riches from their old trade

 routes. His three ships were the Santa Maria,

the Nina, and the Pinta

 

 There is a strong artistic presence

among Puerto Ricans,

whether from artists formally trained in art schools,

 or self-taught amateurs.

Serious students of Puerto Rican art always

 go to the Institute

 of Puerto Rican Culture in the Dominican Convent

 in Old San Juan.

 It's the best source of information on the island about Puerto

Rican arts and crafts.

With its dozen or so museums and even

 more art galleries,

 Old San Juan is the greatest repository of

Puerto Rican arts and

crafts. Galleries sell everything from pre-Columbian

artifacts to

paintings by relatively contemporary artists

 such as Angel Botello,

who died in 1986. The Galería Botello,

at 208 del Cristo St., was his

 former home. He restored the colonial

 mansion himself; now his paintings

 and sculptures are on display there.

Another good place to see Puerto Rican

art is the Museum of the

University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras.

Because of space limitations,

the museums galleries can exhibit only a

fifth of their vast collection at

one time, but the work is always of top-notch

 quality. The collection

ranges from pre-Columbian artifacts to works

 

 

by today's major painters.

 The greatest art on the island is at the Museo

de Arte de Ponce,

 Las Americas Avenue, in Puerto Rico's largest

 city. The collection,

donated by former governor Luis A. Ferré,

 ranges from Jan van

 Eyck's Salvatore Mundi to Rossetti's

confrontational Daugthers

of King Lear. The museum building was

designed by Edward Durell

Stone, who also designed New York's Museum

of Modern Art.

Works are displayed here in a honeycomb of skylit

hexagonal rooms.

 Puerto Rican artists who are represented include

José Campeche

 (1751-1809) and Francisco Oller (1833-1917).

In addition to

such European masters as Rubens, van Dyck

, and Murillo, the

museum features works by Latin American artist,

including some

by the Mexican Diego Rivera.

The first major Puerto Rican artist of note was

José Campeche,

an 18th-century "Sanjuanero" who lived his

entire life in and

drew inspiration from the city of his birth. The

son of a freed

 slave and a immigrant from the Canary Islands;

Campeche

was greatly influenced by a Spanish court painter

 who was

banished to San Juan. Since Campeche was

 fascinated by

religious paintings, many of his 400 works

were for churches.

He was also a distinguished portrait painter,

 whose subjects

ranged from governors of the colony to

 local personalities to

members of well-to-do families. Some

of his paintings are

Birth of Christ, Vision of St. Francis of

 Assissi, Virgin of

Mercy, Don Miguel Antonio de Ustariz,

 and many versions

of the Virgin and Child. Many of

Campeche's paintings

are found in churches and in the Cathedral in old San Juan.

El Velorio, 1893
Francisco Oller y Cestero

Francisco Oller y Cestero, born in 1833, was also

 an eminent Puerto Rican painter. He was greatly

influenced by European art, especially the works of Paul

 Cézanne (1839-1906, French painter) and Pablo Picasso

(1881-1973, Spanish painter). Oller became the first

 Latin American artist to adapt the impressionists' interest in

light and color to the tropical skies of Puerto Rico.

 Island

scenes fascinated him, and he depicted everything

 from life

 on a sugarcane plantation to a funeral wake in the

Puerto

Rican countryside. His still lifes of local flora,

including palm

 trees and bananas, are eagerly sought by collectors.

 Among his portraits: "Un mendigo" (A Beggar),

"Un cesante

" (Laid Off), "El almuerzo del rico"

(The Luncheon of the Rich),

 "El almuerzo del pobre" (The Luncheon of the Poor),

"La escuela

 del maestro Rafael" (Teacher Rafael's School),

"Un boca abajo"

(Face Down), among others.
 

 

La Dama a Caballo
José Campeche
 
La Promesa
Miguel Pou
 

Many Puerto Rican artists have followed

in Oller's footsteps,

 including Ramón Fradé (1875-1954) and

 Miguel Pou (1880-1968).

Frade's painting of The Jíbaro pays homage

 to the country peasant

farmer. There are other works by Prade,

El Niño Campesino,

El Pan Nuestro de Cada Día, Ensenada,

 La Poza, and many others.

Outstanding paintings by Pou are:

 Los Coches de Ponce, La Promesa,

 La Calle Loíza, and La Catedral de Ponce.

Funded by government, a tradition of artistic

 posters became popular

 in the 1940s. Printmaking still flourishes,

 and the field has attracted

 such artists as Antonio Martorell

and José Rosa.

Since the 1960s, nearly every major Puerto

 Rican artist has studied

abroad, in both Europe and America. Some

artists prefer to live